Fastener-concealing toilet seat hinge post

ABSTRACT

THIS TOILET SEAT HINGE POST HAS A COUNTERBORE FOR THE HEAD OF ITS FASTENER CONCEALED BY A COVER PLATE EXTENDING OVER THE COUNTERBORE AND HAVING PROJECTIONS FRICTIONALLY ENGAGING RECESSES ADJACENT THE COUNTERBORE TO RELEASABLY HOLD THE COVER LATE IN ITS CLOSING POSITION. ONE SUCH COVER PLATE HAS SUCH A PROJECTION NEAR ITS UPPER END AND HAS AN ELONGATION OF THE PLATE EXTENDING AROUND AND BENEATH THE HINGE POST WHERE IT IS APERTURED FOR THE PASSAGE OF THE FASTENER. THIS HINGE POST IS ESPECIALLY SUITABLE FOR INSTALLATION ON MODERN TOILET BOWLS USING TOP-INSERTED FASTENERS WHERE THE SPACE BENEATH THE REARWARD PLATFORM IS INADEQUATE TO RECEIVE A WRENCH FOR TIGHTENING THE NUT ON THE LOWER END. THE CONCEALMENT OF THE FASTENER AND ITS COUNTERBORE BY THE COVER PLATE OF THE PRESENT INVENTION ENHANCES THE CLEANLINESS AND SANITARY CONDITION OF THE HINGE POST, RENDERS IT EASY TO MAINTAIN IN A CLEAN CONDITION, AND ALSO ENHANCES THE APPEARANCE OF THE HINGE POST.

Jan. 5, 1971 R. E. WATSON FASTENER-CONCEALING TOILET SEAT HINGE POSTFiled March 27, 1968 FIG. I

R O T N E v m ROBERT E. WATSON ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,551,922FASTENER-CONCEALING TOILET SEAT HINGE POST Robert E. Watson, Farmington,Mich., assignor to Swedish Crucible Steel Company, Detroit, Mich., acorporation of Michigan Filed Mar. 27, 1968, Ser. No. 716,563 Int. Cl.A47k 13/12 U.S. Cl. 4240 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This toiletseat hinge post has a counterbore for the head of its fastener concealedby a cover plate extending over the counterbore and having projectionsfrictionally engaging recesses adjacent the counterbore to releasablyhold the cover plate in its closing position. One such cover plate hassuch a projection near its upper end and has an elongation of the plateextending around and beneath the hinge post where it is apertured forthe passage of the fastener. This hinge post is especially suitable forinstallation on modern toilet bowls using top-inserted fasteners wherethe space beneath the rearward platform is inadequate to receive awrench for tightening the nut on the lower end. The concealment of thefastener and its counterbore by the cover plate of the present inventionenhances the cleanliness and sanitary condition of the hinge post,renders it easy to maintain in a clean condition, and also enhances theappearance of the hinge post.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a fastener-concealing toilet seat hingepost, according to one form of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section taken along the line 22 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the cover plate of FIG. 1, beforebending;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the cover plate of FIG. 3 after bending;

FIG. 5 is a central vertical section similar to that of FIG. 2 butshowing a modified fastener-concealing toilet seat hinge post;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the cover plate shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a side elevation thereof; and

FIG. 8 is a central vertical section through a still furthermodification of the construction shown in FIGS. 2 and 5.

Referring to the drawing in detail, FIG. 1 shows a fastener-concealingtoilet seat hinge post, generally designated 10, as consisting generallyof the hinge post 12 itself and a cover plate or fastener-concealingplate 14. The hinge post 12 is one of an oppositely-facing pair andconsists of a hinge post body 15 including a base 16 (FIG. 2) adapted toengage and rest upon the rearward platform 18 of a toilet bowl (notshown) and upwardly and forwardly inclined arm 20 terminating at itsupper end in a partially cylindrical head 22 having a hinge pin 24(FIG. 1) projecting laterally from one side thereof. The components 16,20, 22 and 24 of the hinge post 12 are preferably molded integral withone another from any suitable synthetic plastic material well-known tothose skilled in the manufacture of toilet seats.

The hinge post 12 has a bore 26 with a counterbore 27 above it for thereception of the threaded shank 28 and head 30 of a threaded fastener 32of the so-called top-inserted type (FIG. 2). Cooperating with thefastener 32 is an expansible nut 34 consisting of a tubularinternally-threaded insert 36 seated in an approximately 3,551,922Patented Jan. 5, 1971 cylindrical casing 38 of elastic deformablematerial, such as synthetic rubber. The rearward toilet bowl platform 18is provided with laterally-spaced holes 40, only one of which is shownin FIG. 2 and the expansible nut 34 is of sufficiently small diameter tobe capable of being pushed through the hole 40 from above. The fastener32 and expansible nut 34 together constitute a top-insertable fastenerunit, generally designated 42. It is especially useful and, indeed,often necessary where the space beneath the rear platform 18 of thetoilet bowl is occupied by other equipment such as odor absorbers, whichprevent the insertion and use of a wrench for tightening theconventional nut, even where such a nut can be installed from beneaththe platform 18. When the fastener 32 is tightened from above by meansof a screw driver nserted in the slotted head 30 the lower end of thecasing 38 bulges outward so as to prevent upward movement thereofthrough the hole 40.

Extending upward from the counterbore 27 (FIG. 2) in an inclineddirection is a recess in the form of an elongated parallel-sided slot ornotch 44 which snugly receives a correspondingly-shaped projection orlug 46 on the under side 48 of the cover plate 14. The major portion ofthe recess 44 and the entire lug 46 are truncated triangular outline andhave parallel side surfaces so as to iuterfit tightly with one another.The lug 46 projects downward from the bottom surface 48 of the mainportion 50 of the cover plate 14 and the main portion 50 has a tongue 52coextensive therewith. The tongue portion 52 is provided with a hole 54for the passage of the shank 28 of the fastener 32 and spaced away fromit an additional projection or lug 56 of circular cross-section adapted,when the cover plate 14 is bent as shown in FIG. 2, to fit snugly into acorrespondingly-shaped additional recess 58 in the undercut bottomsurface or portion 60 of the base 16. The cover plate 14 is preferablyformed of polypropylene plastic which is easily bent and can be flexedindefinitely without cracking or breaking. The tongue 52 is narrowerthan the body portion 54 of the cover plate 14 and meets it at shoulders62. The casing 38 of the expansible nut 34 is provided at the topthereof with an integral flange (not shown) which during installation isdrawn downward into the rounded top portion of the hole 40 andcompressed laterally to fit therein.

In the installation of the cover plate 14, the tongue 52 is first placedagainst the recessed bottom surface 60 of the hinge post base 16 withthe lug 56 forced snugly into the recess 58. The hinge post 14 is thenplaced on the toilet bowl platform 18 with its fastener bore 26 alignedwith the hole 40. The expansible nut 34 is removed from the fastener 32before the shank 28 thereof is inserted through the aligned holes 26 and54. The expansible nut 34 is then rethreaded onto the shank 28 againstthe bottom of the tongue 52 and this assembly is then mounted on therearward toilet bowl platform while the operator forces the casing 38 ofthe expansible nut 34 into the hole 40 in the toilet bowl platform. Theoperator then tightens the threaded fastener 32 by means of a screwdriver. Whereupon the resilient casing .38 of the nut 34 is caused tobulge outward into the position shown by the dotted lines 3811 againstthe side walls of the platform hole 40 positively preventing Withdrawalof the fastener unit 42. The operator then bends the top portion 50 ofthe cover plate portion 14 upward around the rearward side and top ofthe hinge post 12 and forces the lug 46 tightly into the recess 44,completely concealing the counterbore 27 and the head 30 of the fastener32.

The modified hinge post 112 is similar in most respects to the hingepost 12 and similar parts are designed by the same reference numerals,increased by 100, for convenience of identification of such similarparts. The recess 144 near the head 122 is somewhat smaller than thecorresponding recess 44 of FIG. 2 and an additional recess 158 is formedoutward from one side of the counterbore 127 rather than in the bottomsurface of the base 16 as in FIG. 2. The cover plate 114 is ofrectangular outline and, instead of extending beneath the base 116 ofthe hinge post 112 terminates above it and has two downwardly-extendinglugs 146 and 156 which are pressed snugly and tightly into the recesses144 and 158 after the mounting procedures described above in connectionwith FIGS. 1 to 4 inclusive have been carried out.

The hinge post 212 shown in central vertical section in FIG. 8 isidentical with the hinge post 112 shown in FIG. 5, except that therecesses 144 and 158 are omitted. The cover plate 214 has a main portion250 similar to the main portion 150 of the cover plate 114 except thatthe pair of lugs 146 and 156 are omitted. In their place the mainportion 250 is provided with a depending projection or lug 246 of hollowfrusto-conical configuration adapted to snugly fit the taperedcounterbore 227 in the hinge post body 215. The projection or lug 246terminates above the head 30 of the fastener 32 so as to provideclearance therebetween.

The installation of the cover plate 214 follows the similar procedure tothat described in the other forms of the invention in that the mainportion 250 thereof is aligned with the top of the hinge post 112 andthe projection 246 pushed downward into the counterbore 227 which itsnugly fits. Thereafter, the cover plate 214 can be removed only byusing force to pry the projection 246 out of frictional engagement withthe counterbore 227. In all three forms of the invention, the coverplate 14, 114 or 214 is easily pried upward to give access to the head30 of the fastener 32 if such access is required for repair orreplacement purposes.

I claim:

1. A fastener-concealing hinge post adapted to be secured by a headedfastener to a toilet bowl, said hinge post comprising:

a hinge post body having a fastener bore therethrough adapted to receivethe shank of the fastener and having a counterbore communicating withthe upper end of said bore and adapted to receive the head of thefastener,

4 said body also having a recess therein disposed in proximity to saidcounterbore,

and a cover member extending over said counterbore in concealingrelationship therewith and having a projection snugly fitting into saidrecess in frictional gripping engagement therewith,

said body having an additional recess therein disposed remote from saidfirst-mentioned recess and said cover member having a fastener holetherethrough aligned with said fastener bore and having an additionalprojection disposed remote from said first-mentioned projection andsnugly fitting said additional recess in frictional gripping engagementtherewith,

said additional recess and said additional projection and said holebeing disposed beneath said hinge post body and said cover memberextending from beneath said hinge post body around one side thereof andover the top thereof.

2. A fastener-concealing hinge post, according to claim 1, wherein saidhinge post body has an undercut portion in the bottom thereof andwherein the portion of said cover member beneath said hinge post bodyand containing said hole extends beyond said bore and is disposed withinsaid undercut portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,449,774 6/ 1969 Wilham -70XFOREIGN PATENTS 1,393,446 2/1965 France 85S5 258,673 4/1965 Australia4-236 LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner R. J. SHER, Assistant ExaminerU.S. Cl. X.R. 4236; 85-70

